


hand in unlovable hand

by LiteraLi



Category: You're The Worst (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Post-Finale, filling in the blanks of that time jump, spoilers for the finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:22:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28263081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteraLi/pseuds/LiteraLi
Summary: Gretchen and Jimmy navigate their version of happily ever after.Post-finale, canon-compliant.
Relationships: Gretchen Cutler/Jimmy Shive-Overly
Kudos: 6





	hand in unlovable hand

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, I'm new to this show, having just found it on Hulu and binging it in one week, and I absolutely loved it! I loved the spin the show put on rom-coms, and the way they explored topics such as mental health. But most of all I loved that FINALE! This is one of my top best-ending shows, for sure. I was unspoiled for the last season and had my doubts whether it would end happily or not (damn flash-forwards) and was just ecstatic at how it ended. What a perfect and fitting ending for Gretchen and Jimmy! I love the idea that they pretty much ended up as that cliched couple in a committed relationship with a kid, as much as they tell themselves otherwise - but hey, what works for them, right? In my mind, they get a little less scared of commitment as time goes by.
> 
> I've watched that final montage of their future too many times to count and I wrote this to help fill in the blanks a little of how that all came to be! As I mentioned, I'm new to this show and this is my first time writing for them, so I do hope I did them justice. This fic is probably a little more on the fluff side, which is not to say that I don't think they go through rough spots, but I chose to focus more on the happy parts because this is a fic about a happily ever after, after all. :)
> 
> Unbeta'ed, all mistakes are my own. Title taken from No Children by The Mountain Goats, of course. ;)

The house is eerily quiet when they return home from their non-wedding celebratory pancakes.

Edgar is gone, and he’s not coming back this time. Their eyes meet, and it’s clear they’re both thinking about him, but neither of them dare say his name, the pain still raw.

“Guess you’ll be learning to cook and clean now,” Gretchen jokes dryly.

“Me?” Jimmy gestures to himself in mock surprise, “As I’m currently the sole breadwinner in this household, don’t you think  _ you  _ ought to be in charge of the housework?”

“Hey, Jimbo, we’re not married, remember? I might be out of here tomorrow, and then where would that leave you?” Gretchen raises her eyebrows at him.

“Right, then,” Jimmy nods curtly, “I’ll look into hiring a housekeeper tomorrow.”

They both break into grins at the same time, smiling into each other's eyes, basking in the happiness that stems from their earlier decision.

Gretchen leans in for a kiss first, and Jimmy happily obliges.

After a few moments, he pulls away, “Shall we take this downstairs? Consummate our non-marriage?”

“Actually,” Gretchen stops him with a hand to his chest and a mischievous glint in her eye, “Do you still have our rings? Want to see if we can con anything else out of the wedding industry while we still look the part?”

“I love you,” Jimmy exclaims, planting another quick kiss on her lips before ushering her out the door.

~~~

“Gretchen?” Jimmy prods one lazy morning as she lounges up against his chest in their bed.

They’re back from a few days of heavily discounted stays at some of the fanciest penthouse suites in LA. They’d told each hotel it was their wedding night, and taken full advantage of the amenities, room service and minibar, up until their wedding clothing didn’t quite survive a particularly rough round of lovemaking. They’d come home yesterday and spent the day opening all of the gifts Vernon had dropped off, sorting everything into keep and return piles. No food processors, unfortunately.

“Mhmm?” Gretchen acknowledges him sleepily.

“Look, I’ve been trying really hard not to overstep here, but do you remember when you told me you’d been taking random pills and stopped talking to your therapist...?”

Gretchen stiffens slightly, but readjusts so that she can look at him properly. “You mean last week? Yes, I recall. What about it?”

“Do you think you might...speak to your doctor about adjusting your meds? And speak to your therapist again? Not for me. Not for us. But for you.” Gretchen knows it’s hard for Jimmy to talk about this with her and doesn’t always know the right thing to say. But he’s trying, and she loves him for it.

“Justina didn’t think we should get married.” Gretchen stalls.

“Good thing we didn’t, then.” Jimmy holds her gaze.

“All right!” Gretchen throws her hands up in defeat. “I’ll make the appointments. For me  _ and _ for us. Happy?”

Jimmy just smiles and holds her close again.

“Hey, Jimmy?” They’re still lying together, minutes or hours later. The perks of being unemployed and self-employed.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you tell that comedian-turned-fake-murderer at our bachelor/bachelorette party that you didn’t want kids?”

Jimmy gulps. In all the excitement following that evening, they had never discussed any of the issues that had been raised.

“Because I don’t think I want them.” He finally answers.

“But...after your dad died, and you wrote that pros and cons list about me, you said you couldn’t see having kids with me. I took that to mean that you wanted them, just not with me.” Gretchen's voice sounds small and hurt and Jimmy wishes for the millionth time that he could go back in time and make it so he had never behaved that way.

“I’m sorry, Gretchen. I was messed up after my dad died and I shouldn’t have done any of that or said that to you. I was confused back then. I was trying to reevaluate everything and everyone in my life in relation to my father and I was too wrapped up in myself to notice that I was hurting you. The truth is that I couldn’t picture having kids with you because I couldn’t picture _myself_ having kids. I must’ve been thinking of having kids as a way to have the relationship I never got with my dad. But that shouldn’t be a reason to have kids. So just disregard anything I did or said during that time - I wasn’t thinking straight.”

They’re both sitting upright by the time he’s finished. Gretchen considers his words for a moment before responding.

“Thank you for apologizing. But Jimmy, that’s the  _ exact  _ kind of messed up thinking you were doing right after he died. I don’t think you need to invalidate everything you want in life because of how it relates to your father. Just like you didn’t stop writing. And I think it’s okay for  _ part _ of the reason you want kids to be because of what you felt was lacking in your relationship with him. It’s the same for me - if I have kids, I would want to be better than my own parents. To have the chance to have the family I always wanted,” Gretchen smiles softly, but then her face falls again, “But I’m not sure I should. What if I’m too messed up to take care of them? Or worse, what if I pass my disease on to them? Did I tell you I think my mom might have it too? It’s okay if the reason you don’t want kids is really that you don’t want them with me.”

“Gretchen, me not wanting kids has  _ nothing  _ to do with you,” Jimmy reaches over to cup her cheek, forcing her to look at him, “You’d be a great mom. The  _ best  _ mom. The fun mom who takes their kid with them everywhere they go. You’d notice right away if anything was ever wrong. And if they were to inherit your illness, you’d make sure they got help and show them how to live with it.”

Jimmy searches her eyes to make sure she understands him and finally relaxes when she reaches up to grasp his hand and her smile returns.

“I think you’d be a good dad, too, Jimmy. For what it’s worth. You’d take them for walks in the reservoir. You’d make them feel safe and loved and wanted. You’d teach them how to read and write. And drive. And manage finances. You know, all the stuff I don’t do very well…”

Gretchen has a far off look in her eyes as she paints the picture of what she imagines Jimmy would be like as a father. And for a moment, Jimmy seems to be caught up in that same fantasy. But then he looks almost appalled.

“Are you trying to tell me you can’t  _ read _ , Gretchen? You know, I’ve had my suspicions…”

“Hey!” She swats at his chest, “You know what I meant.”

They get distracted for a few minutes, when play-fighting turns into tickling which turns into tackling which turns into full-on making out.

“Hey, Gretchen…?” Jimmy pulls away to catch his breath.

“Yeah?” Brown eyes meet blue.

“Let’s make a deal - you go back on your meds and get back in therapy, and then we’ll start trying for a baby.”

Gretchen’s heart skips a beat.

“I thought you didn’t want kids?”

Jimmy shakes his head slowly. “No, you’re right. Dismissing everything I thought I wanted in life because of its connection to my dad is wrong. I  _ do _ want to have the kind of relationship my dad and I never had. But I also want everything we just talked about. A family. With  _ you _ .”

~~~

As luck would have it, Gretchen gets pregnant the first month they start actively trying. Jimmy, of course, is much too pleased with himself at that fact.

_ “I  _ knew  _ they tasted fast! _ ”

_ “You can’t  _ taste  _ their speed, Jimmy!” _

Sitting on their bed and staring down at the positive pregnancy test in her hands, Gretchen can’t hide the anxiousness she’s feeling. They’ve spoken about it, looked forward to it, yet it all seems so real now. And it’s  _ terrifying _ .

“Are we sure about this? We couldn’t commit to each other forever, and now we’re about to enter an even more permanent commitment.” She looks up at Jimmy, eyes wide and worried.

Jimmy meets her gaze, and she can see the mix of fear and excitement reflected back to her.

“It’s different, though,” he attempts to reassure her.

“Yeah.” 

“But also kind of the same. We might not be able to choose if we take care of and raise them, or even if we’re going to love them. I know I already do.” Jimmy places his hand gently over her lower belly, “But we’re going to choose  _ how _ we love and parent them. Every day.”

Gretchen covers his hand with her own.

“I love you.” And she does. Every day.

“I love you, too. Both of you.”

~~~

They’re having a daughter.

Knowing it’s a girl doesn’t change much, except for making the fact they’re having a baby seem all the more  _ real _ . Gretchen didn’t have a preference either way, but she knows Jimmy was slightly worried about having a son. She smiles as they make the drive back to the house after their appointment, looking down at the new set of photos laying across her ever-shrinking lap. Every time they’d got to see their baby on an ultrasound so far had been utterly captivating. They’d share the hugest grins while staring at the little white blob on the screen and they’d be in exceptionally good moods for the rest of the day.

“Baby Girl Cutler-Shive-Overly. Has a good ring to it, doesn’t it?” Jimmy hasn’t been able to stop smiling either. He’s driving ridiculously slow, as he’s insisted on doing ever since they found out she was pregnant.

“You do know it’s just my last name on these photos?” Gretchen can’t help but tease.

“Yeah, well, we’ll fix that when she’s born.”

“You’re not going to saddle a tiny baby with three last names, are you?”

“I’ll settle for two. Shive-Overly.”

“Jimmy!”

They’re still  _ discussing _ when they walk through the door. Gretchen makes a beeline to the fridge. First, to hang up the new ultrasound pictures - their fridge is almost completely covered in grainy black and white photos by this point - and secondly, to grab a snack - courtesy of their new housekeeper who meal preps for them once a week.

Jimmy pulls out the baby name book they’ve been pouring over the past few weeks and settles next to her while she pours mustard over some cut up vegetables and crackers. He raises his brows at her concoction but knows better by now than to comment.

“Let’s table the surname discussion for now and focus on the first name, what do you say? We can narrow it down a bit now that we know what we’re having.”

Jimmy’s been taking this very seriously, marking pages and looking up meanings. He is a writer, after all. Naming things is his job, and he’s determined to do it well. Gretchen doesn’t mind and secretly thinks it’s adorable. She only cares that she gets final approval and that it isn’t the same name as of any of the girls he’d slept with.

_ “Well…that might make it rather hard…” _

_ “Jimmy.” _

_ “Fine. But no guys  _ or  _ girls you’ve slept with, either.” _

_ “Deal.” _

Jimmy flips through the pages and consults some of his lists.

“Lay one on me,” Gretchen requests, mid-chew.

“Okay,” he turns to her, looking slightly nervous that he won’t like her suggestion, “Now I know it’s a little outdated, but hear me out…

“Felicity.” He says the name slowly, with a flourish of his hands - palms forward, fingers splayed. 

Gretchen tilts her head, considering, ”Doesn’t that mean ‘happiness’?”

Jimmy nods, smiling softly.

“But I’m not…” frown lines appear between Gretchen’s eyebrows, “And what if  _ she’s  _ not happy and resents the name?”

“I know,” Jimmy rushes to reassure her and explain, “But that’s exactly why I think it’s so fitting. Because she’s  _ our  _ happiness…and she’ll always know it.”

“Oh, Jimmy…” Gretchen’s eyes tear up and she can’t blame it on just her hormones. “It’s perfect.”

She leans over to kiss him and Jimmy shudders at the remnants of the taste of whatever she’s been eating on her lips. Gretchen laughs.

“Hey, can I suggest a middle name?” she asks.

Jimmy nods.

“What do you think of Veronica? Ronnie is a common nickname for Veronica, so I was thinking it could be for you dad.”

“Naming a  _ girl _ after him? He’d  _ hate  _ that,” Jimmy shakes his head at the suggestion, before breaking out in a wide grin, “I love it!”

“We’re really naming this kid Felicity Veronica Cutler-Shive-Overly, huh?” Gretchen runs a hand over her belly.

“Sorry baby,” Jimmy addresses the bump, “but it’s too late now, you’re stuck with us and an absurdly long name. We’ll let you change it when you’re eighteen if you don’t like it.”

~~~

The pregnancy passes, and with it highs and lows.

Gretchen still has good days and bad days. But Jimmy chooses to stay with her through each one.

Jimmy works on writing his next novel, in between researching and purchasing highly recommended baby products. Gretchen loves it when he reads the smutty parts of what will one day become  _ Height  _ to her belly, both because she gets a kick out of how Felicity seems to respond to hearing Jimmy’s voice and because the second trimester has her feeling particularly horny. Jimmy normally doesn’t get very far in his readings before she jumps him.

  
  


Gretchen tries to take things easy, focus on self-care and enjoy spending time with Jimmy and preparing for the baby’s arrival. They even go to parenting classes and amuse themselves by making fun of the other couples. But by the end of her second trimester, she’s starting to go stir crazy. Fortunately, that’s just when Sam and the boys decide to show up at the house one day, fed up with their new representation at Caliber, and demand she figure out a way to represent them again. Unsure what she’s doing exactly, Gretchen starts her own PR company, CUTLER, with Lindsay as her only employee and the boys and Ben Folds as her only clients. She completely wings it at first, and it’s especially difficult to run in her third trimester, but she manages to keep things up and running until she gives birth.

~~~

Felicity arrives right around the date that would have been their first wedding anniversary.

She has small tufts of blond hair and grey eyes that will likely lighten to blue and she immediately has Gretchen and Jimmy wrapped around her tiny fingers, both in total awe that they’ve created such a perfect little person together.

Reality sets in when they bring her home from the hospital a few days later. After placing the sleeping baby, still in her car seat, down on the living room floor, Gretchen and Jimmy exchange matching anxious looks above their daughter.  _ Now what? _

The first few months of parenthood pass in a blur of ups and downs. With the only other bedroom in the house all the way upstairs and out of earshot, they turn the alcove off the side of their room into a nursery. But for the first few months, Felicity sleeps either in a cot next to their bed or in between them.

_ “Where are we going to put her?” _

_ “This house wasn’t really designed with kids in mind, was it?” _

Having a baby is hard. There are many sleepless nights, quite a few arguments, and endless tears shed. Although, now when Gretchen finds herself needing a cry at night, she does it in their bed.

It’s especially hard doing it alone without any real support from family. Jimmy’s sisters Fiona and Di had sent a card when Felicity was born, but it was really just a thinly veiled request for another all-expenses-paid trip to LA under the guise of “visiting our new niece and dad’s resting place”, and had promptly been chucked in the bin. Jimmy was in touch with his youngest sister, Lilly, but she was halfway across the world and busy in university. Gretchen’s parents seemed excited about their granddaughter and had sent over some gifts, but she and Jimmy had decided that distancing themselves from her parents’ judgemental advice was what was best for her mental health.

Funnily enough, it’s Paul who has been the most helpful with parenting advice, as has Lindsay, who’s been helping out with Paul’s little glasses-clad boy (who’s technically her nephew) as she and Paul have been growing closer. (Becca really didn’t luck out in the eye department where her children were concerned.) But there’s a lot Gretchen and Jimmy have to figure out on their own - and they do, slowly but surely. They learn that Felicity is calmed by the sound of water in the shower. Gretchen figures out breastfeeding and Jimmy keeps her and the baby company by reading aloud to them in the voice Felicity recognizes from the womb.

Having a baby is fun, too. They love making her smile and laugh and dressing her up in all kinds of outfits while she’s still too young to oppose. True to Jimmy’s predictions, Gretchen does take Felicity with her everywhere. She comes with them to restaurants and bars. They think up baby-friendly Sunday Funday ideas. When Gretchen goes back to work after her maternity leave, she brings the baby in whenever she can, or else Jimmy watches her while he writes from home.

~~~

Gretchen comes home from work one afternoon with a medium sized box. It’s one of the days Felicity has been home with Jimmy and she smiles as she watches her boyfriend fuss over their daughter in the living room.

“You have to see what Sam bought Felicity, Jimmy!” She announces excitedly, before being momentarily distracted by what Jimmy had dressed the baby in.

“Mommy’s home!” Jimmy exclaims, picking up the baby and dropping a kiss on her forehead before proudly displaying her to Gretchen, “Let’s show her how pretty you look in your new shoes!”

Felicity - who, it’s worth noting, seems unamused - is clad in a tiny pair of strappy sandals, which, while adorable, are incredibly impractical for a three-month old baby.

“Jimmy,” Gretchen raises a brow at him, “ _ please  _ tell me this has nothing to do with your foot fetish. Because that would be gross.”

“Ew, no, it’s not like  _ that _ . There’s nothing untoward about a father appreciating that his daughter has perfect little feet that deserve to be dressed up and celebrated!”

Gretchen isn’t convinced, but hey, she can’t disagree that Felicity’s feet aren’t perfect. “Well, in that case, I think you look beautiful, Felicity.” She bends down to nip at her tiny toes, which earns her a giggle. “Now come see what Uncle Sam bought you, baby.”

Gretchen reaches into the box to pull out the item and adjusts it gently over Felicity’s head.

“Are those... noise-canceling headphones for babies?” Jimmy asks, intrigued.

“Yes! So she can come to performances with me now. Aren’t they great?” Gretchen makes silly faces at the baby, wanting to make sure she’s happy and comfortable with the headphones on. Felicity smiles back in that way that makes both their hearts melt.

“You know, I can think of another use for these…” Jimmy gives Gretchen a pointed look.

Gretchen’s eyes meet him in understanding. “Should we go try them out now?” she asks suggestively.

Needless to say, they’re put to good use from then on.

~~~

Felicity Cutler-Shive-Overly lives up to her name, growing from a smiley baby into a happy little girl. Oh, she does her fair share of crying, throwing tantrums and testing their patience. But most of all, she succeeds in bringing much joy into Gretchen and Jimmy’s lives. She loves music like her mother and reading like her father. She loves to play in the tree house that Jimmy finally finishes building for her. She has a vicarious imagination and she and Gretchen play make believe games for hours, including her favorite -  _ Tiger _ .

Jimmy and Gretchen fight at first against becoming  _ those  _ people - the cliche couple whose lives revolve around their kid. They force themselves to go out - either taking the baby with them or leaving her with a sitter - no matter how tired they are, much like when they first moved in together. But they shortly realize that they can no longer uphold their old lifestyle, nor do they want to. Turns out, they actually  _ like _ spending time with their daughter, and change isn’t as scary to Jimmy as it used to be.

They do, however, hire Mariah as their nanny, which allows them to spend some well needed time away from the baby, either alone or together. And they find ways to keep the spice alive in their relationship, whether by trying something new in the bedroom or challenging one another with bets and dares.

Things aren’t always perfect, but neither is life. They take things day by day and try their best. Their lifestyle may be unconventional, but it works for them. They provide what they hope is a fun and stable environment for Felicity, along with a realistic example of what a loving relationship can be.

It may not be your typical happily ever after but it’s  _ their  _ happily ever after.

~~~

Gretchen, Jimmy and Felicity stay overnight at the hotel after Lindsay and Paul’s second wedding, and the next morning, they head to their new house.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to the house that holds so many memories - the first house they lived in together, the house where they started their family. But after one too many times of Felicity or her friends tripping over one of the numerous steps throughout the house, it was time to go.

“Are you ready to see your new house, baby?” Gretchen asks with an over-excited tone as they pull up to the house and get out of the car, trying to make this transition as easy as possible for Felicity.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” By Felicity's reaction, the approach seems to be working. She reaches out for Jimmy’s hand, pulling him along impatiently. “Come  _ on _ , Daddy.”

“I’m coming, sweet pea,” Jimmy chuckles, following her to the front door and unlocking it.

Felicity immediately drops his hand when the doors open and runs inside, her blond curls flying behind her.

Gretchen and Jimmy exchange a grin. When they’d first looked at this house, they’d fallen in love with it’s open floor plan - all on one level - picturing exactly this, a safe place for their little girl to play and run around in. The house also has four bedrooms, one which Jimmy will be able to use for his office as he finishes writing  _ Depth _ , and another that will be a guest room/playroom (and  _ maybe _ a nursery somewhere down the line).

After showing Felicity her room, already set up with a new big-girl bed and all of her toys, they take her to the spacious backyard, which had been another selling point for them.

“I was thinking we’d build your new treehouse here,” Jimmy picks up the little girl and walks her over to the selected tree, “What do you think?”

Felicity nods enthusiastically. “But make it a fairy castle this time, Daddy, okay?”

“A  _ what _ ? Do I look like I know how to build a  _ fairy castle _ ?” Jimmy exclaims, only half-joking, and proceeds to tickle the little girl, who erupts in a fit of giggles, before demanding to be put down so she can go back inside and play.

_ A fairy castle _ , Jimmy mouths the words one more time to Gretchen as they follow their daughter back inside.

“Hey, we both know she got her creative side from you,” Gretchen shrugs, “Just like we both know you’re going to cave and figure out how to build one.” (He does.)

Standing in the center of their new home, already full of their belongings, and with the joyful sounds coming from Felicity’s room, Jimmy turns to face Gretchen.

“You ready for this, Ms. Cutler?”

In the grand scheme of things, moving to a new house isn’t any more of a commitment than choosing to stay together each day, or having a baby together. But this home, that they’d looked for (and  _ purchased) _ together, feels like a pretty big milestone nonetheless. And Gretchen is finding that, over time, her other foot is less and less out the door.

“I’m ready, Shive-Overly.”

He takes her hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. Kudos and [kind] comments are always appreciated. 
> 
> P.S. I got a kick out of her name being Felicity, the name of one of my favorite characters from another show, so I couldn't help but give her the middle name Veronica, after another one of my favorite characters!


End file.
